basil

We just got back from California, and I must say, I ate one of the most amazing tomatoes I’ve had in decades. Truly.

It reminded me of the tomatoes my mom had growing in the garden when we were kids. Juicy, meaty, and oh so sweet. In that awesome tomato way of sweetness. Add a sprinkling of salt and pepper, and there is truly nothing better. I remember growing up, and when the beefsteak tomatoes were ripe, they became the only thing I wanted on toast! And nothing made a BLT better than one of those tomatoes. My mom made the most luscious tomato salads, and then there were the thick tomato slices all ready to be added to burgers fresh off the grill.

The other thing I love about tomato season is the memory of all our Italian friends and neighbours making sugo (tomato sauce) in their garages. It was a true family affair. You could have school, or even college classes, but when it was sugo time, you were expected to stay home and help out. All those glorious gleaming glass jars just waiting to be filled with freshly stewed tomatoes. I knew of this firsthand, because we often took advantage of all those family moments. A group of us may have been in a car, driving through the countryside, but if we had a craving for a coffee break or were a little peckish, we knew we just had to pull into the driveway of any of our Italian friends- there would be espresso and pizelles ready for us in a matter of moments. Such a happy and enthusiastic time. We all got into the spirit of the moment.

Well, I live in a condo now, and don’t have quick access to an Italian garage during sugo time. Well, I do, I technically don’t know most of the owners of said garages. Although this year, I may just have snagged a spot with dear family friends for their canning weekend. I can’t wait!

And what do I make with all the tomatoes, now that I am surrounded by bushels of them at the markets? Of course, there is still that trusty tomato and toast breakfast. And the most spectacular BLT, using double smoked bacon on toasted sourdough. And then there is Harissa Spiked Bruschetta and Tomato Jam.

But this galette or crostata is another of my favourites.

It’s really just a spin on my Fleeting Fiddlehead Galette. The crust is so tender and buttery, and a dream to whip up. And surprisingly, it has yogurt in the dough. Because it is a free form recipe, you really can’t go wrong with how you fold it up. You just spread a layer of cheeses, herbs and spices, and then just lay your tomatoes on top. I’m not going to state how many tomatoes you need. This will depend on their size, and how thick you want the layer to be. Now I overlap the tomatoes, and use a variety of sizes and colours, to create some visual interest. But in the end, it’s all about the tomato. The rest is just a conduit to serve the tomato! Just don’t make the layer too thick. Then the tomatoes won’t roast off, and will end up in a rather soggy layer. Not good.

As an alternative to a savoury meal for 4-6, why not prepare this as an appetizer? Just roll out your dough into more of a rectangle, so that when you slice it, you will get two across and maybe 4-5 rows, in other words, about 8-10 slices? It would make a perfect appetizer for a lazy evening, served with a chilled white wine, or even a cold beer!

I hope you whip this up, with any of the cornucopia of tomatoes you have picked from your garden or from the market. This recipe will work great well into September. After which, if fresh heirloom tomatoes may not be available, then just move on to my Pizza Tart, and use the wonderful cherry tomatoes that are now available year round.

Love Jen.

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Summer Tomato Crostata

Summer tomatoes are king on this crostata- an easy to whip up dough, with a layer of cheese and herbs, and topped with the best tomatoes of the season. Serve it as an appetizer or main dish.

Course
Main Course

Prep Time30minutes

Cook Time30minutes

Total Time1hour

Servings6

Ingredients

1 1/4cupunbleached AP flour

1/4tspsalt

8tbsp(1 stick) frozen unsalted butter

1/4cupplain greek yogurt

1/4cupice cold water

2tsplemon juice

1/2cupgoat cheesesoftened to room temperature

1/2cupshredded mozzarella cheeseI just use 'pizza' mozzarella

1/4cupgrated parmesan cheesefresh is best

2tspolive oil

2garlic clovesminced

1tspfresh thymechopped

1tsphot pepper flakes

1.5lb or sofresh tomatoessliced. You can use a variety of tomatoes, both in sizes and colour

1egg

1tbspfresh basilchiffonade'ed

Maldon finishing salt for the crust

Instructions

For the Crust"

Add the flour and 1/4 tsp salt to a bowl. Whisk to combine. With the large holes of a grater, grate the butter stick into the flour. Mix gently with your fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the yogurt, water and lemon juice. Pour this over the flour mixture and use your hands or a wooden spoon to form the dough into a ball. Flatten slightly and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes.

To prepare the Filling:

Whisk together the olive and garlic cloves in a small bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine the three cheeses and then add the olive oil mixture. Stir in the thyme and hot pepper flakes. Refrigerate till ready to use.

To Assemble:

Preheat the oven to 400F. Remove the dough from the freezer.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

On a well floured surface, roll out the dough into a 12 inch circle, trimming the edges to clean it up. Transfer the dough to the parchment lined baking sheet.

Leaving a 2 inch border untouched, spread the cheese mixture evenly over the dough. Arrange the tomato slices over the cheese. Overlap slightly and arrange in a pleasing way, then drizzle 1 tsp of olive oil over the top. Sprinkle with the fresh basil.

Fold the edges of the dough in and over the filling, pleating to make it lay nicely.

Whisk together the egg and 1 tsp water. Brush this over the crust. Sprinkle the edges with the finishing salt, and extra thyme leaves if desired.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is puffed and crust is golden brown.

Recipe Notes

Let it cool just a touch before cutting into it, allowing it to set.

This also tastes lovely at room temperature. It even tastes good cold!

You can use a variety of tomatoes- heirloom, roma, beefsteak, cherry, grape etc. Various colours also make for visual impact.

Because each tomato will vary in size, I am going to leave it to you to decide how many you will use. Large ones may require that you are only using two or three. But if you are sticking to smaller sizes, you may end up using four or even six. Just don't over fill, you want them all to get the opportunity to roast off without becoming soggy.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. You know how our mums all had those little brown cubes wrapped in foil, that they’d crumble up and add to soups or stews?

For many, if they weren’t going to make their own chicken stock or beef broth, they relied on those little cubes.

Well, I have my own version. Now, unlike the cubes, which are more sodium, MSG and other preservatives etc, than anything remotely close to chicken, what I rely on only uses ingredients we can pronounce and probably already have in our pantry. True, there is nothing remotely resembling chicken in this concoction either. But I swear, when you taste it, you will be more than amazed at how great this tastes, and works as the perfect chicken bouillon.

And even better, there’s nothing related to an animal in here. It’s totally vegetarian. So embrace it as a way to get that umami-ness of chicken stock, without offending anyone. I originally got this recipe from my sister-in-law, who is vegan. But when I mentioned it to her recently, she was surprised at how enthusiastic I am about using it, she doesn’t even use it as much as I do!

The key ingredient that makes this work is Nutritional Yeast. It is deactivated yeast, and is usually found in the form of either a yellow flake or in powder form. You will most likely find it in the bulk aisle of your health food store. It has a significant amount of B-complex vitamins as well as trace amounts of other minerals and vitamins. Some brands of nutritional yeast are also fortified with vitamin B12. Often it’s flavour has been described as nutty or cheesy, so many will use it as a substitute for cheese (sprinkling it instead of parmesan on pasta, popcorn etc) So yes, it is the savoury base for my bouillon powder.

It’s the addition of all the herbs and spices that transform this yellow flakey powder into something that works well as a chicken broth substitute.

Now, I’m not saying to use this as the way to make your soup. NOOOO!! Please, I beg you, try making your own stock. It’s the most therapeutic activity you can take on in the kitchen, when it is pouring cats and dogs outside. And the aroma is worth it. Make a batch and freeze it in smaller portions, for when the craving for soup hits. I get giddy when I think about making up a batch of stock. Soooo healthy. See my New You Bone Broth! In fact, I usually keep some on hand, to drink as a hot cup (like tea) for all it’s health benefits, including getting needed collagen.

No, this little powder is for different occasions. You know those times where a recipe calls for 1/2 or 1 cup of chicken stock or broth, and you thought you had a can or tetra pack in the pantry or fridge? And yet when you open the door, it isn’t there? Or when that recipes calls for the 1/2 cup of chicken broth, and you just don’t want to open a carton for such a small amount? That’s when you reach into the fridge, for your handy dandy jar of faux chicken bouillon powder. Most likely, the recipe you are cooking with has all sorts of other ingredients, and the stock or broth is just the liquid being used to help thin out or deglaze, or extend the ingredients in the pan or pot. Or let’s say you thought you had a full two cups or whatever of stock for a recipe. Only to find out that you’re short. This jar of bouillon powder will come to your rescue.

This little powder is so easy to use: 1 tablespoon of powder to 1 cup of boiling water. That’s it. So I will just add my spoonful to a measuring cup, add the water and give it a good stir. Then it is ready to go into the recipe on the stove cooking away.

It’s healthy, all natural, and a great little thing to have in your fridge. Kept in the fridge, it will be there for you, for a good long while. And please, get rid of those nasty cubes!! Also, once you have purchased your Nutritional Yeast, store it in the fridge as well.

Love Jen

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Faux Chicken Bouillon Powder

All natural, all healthy, and an instant way to get the chicken flavour you need in a recipe. Yay for Nutritional Yeast!

Course
Condiment

Servings3cups

Ingredients

3cupsnutritional yeast

5tbspkosher salt

3tbspdried onion flakes or powdernot onion salt

3tbspdried parsley

2 1/2tspdried sage

2 1/2tspcelery seednot celery salt

2 1/2tspgarlic powdernot garlic salt

2 1/2tspdreid thyme

2 1/2tspdried marjoram

2 1/2tspdried rosemary

2 1.2tsppaprika

1tspdried basil

Instructions

Place all the ingredients into a food processor and blend into a fine, smooth texture.

Ever find that you wish, even ache, for summer to finally get here, only to feel that it’s then just flying by? it too so long to arrive, the nerve of it to rush to depart!

While it’s here, we do our best to make every moment count. For me the day starts early. Not that I necessarily want it to, but hearing all the birds chipping away, just as the sun is ready to rise, is such a sublime sound. I don’t mind that alarm clock! I’m such a light sleeper, so it doesn’t take a lot to get my eyes open. Since I’m up, I might as well enjoy one of my summer joys: enjoying a cup of coffee out on the balcony, after I’ve watered all the plants and herbs before the sun’s heat hits them.

It’s been a good summer for produce and a variety of different fruit. I’m always so giddy when cherry season starts, and I wish it would last a bit longer each year. We get spoiled. First, we get the cherries from the States, and then here in Ontario the trees start sharing them gems a few weeks later. In essence our season gets extended, I guess 🙂

So, now we’re into stone fruit and tomato season! Yippee! 😀 When I was a kid, and it was our garden that was producing the harvest, each crop was unique and used distinctly, for different purposes. We would never have thought of combing a savoury veg with a sweet fruit. We would never have put nectarines on pizza, watermelon in salad with olives, etc. But now, these types of combinations are amongst my favourites. Thank you, Globalization, for introducing us to how other ethnic groups eat (which is really where so many of these combinations come from)

Because it’s summer, salads reign supreme in my kitchen. There are so many amazing combinations we can discover, if we just think outside the box. We can still make a classic salad, but why not put a twist on it? And that’s what happened with this recipe that I’m sharing with you today.

A Caprese Salad is such a fun and fresh way to make the most of summer tomatoes, fresh basil, and cheese. So what could I do to switch it up? Well, I wanted it to be a bit more substantial, so I decided to add tuna. Really good imported Italian tuna. Even a simple can of tuna can make all the difference. There is so much flavour to Italian tuna. But if you can’t source it, fee free to replace it with high quality, sustainable, and wild (if possible) chunk tuna.

Then came the tomatoes. Whether it is fresh cherry tomatoes on the vine, golden grape tomatoes, or even seeded and sliced Roma tomatoes, they will all work. But I didn’t want to stop at tomatoes. So I grabbed a couple of fresh peaches and sliced them into the bowl. Chunks of fresh avocado, thinly sliced red onion, and a simple dressing of squeezed lime, olive oil and salt and pepper, and it was almost done.

But wait, you’re saying, “This is supposed to be a Caprese Salad. Where’s the cheese?” Aah, I have the perfect cheese for this salad: Tre Stelle Bocconcini Pearls. Those little white pearls are bite-sized perfection. They really become the star of the recipe, adding that creamy burst amidst all the other textures. A sprinkling of jalapeño confetti, and some shredded basil or lemon balm, and dinner, lunch or even breakfast, is served!

And I’m serving up something else: I’ve partnered with Tre Stelle Cheese to let you know about an amazing Sweepstakes. Right now, after purchasing a container of either the Tre Stelle Feta or Bocconcini, you can enter for the chance to win some fabulous prizes. You will then have a chance at winning 1 out of 150 cooking appliance prizes, or a grand prize for you and a guest to attend the Tre Stelle Cooking School in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Tre Stelle is giving away a total of 3 Grand Prize trips. Amazing! Wish I could win!! The Sweekptakes is going on until October 15, 2017. I hope everyone who can, does enter. I mean, it’s a win-win. You get some great cheeses to eat, let alone the opportunity to visit Niagara for a cooking school event! Check it all out here!!!

In the meantime, enjoy all the summer salads that you can. And live in the moment, ‘cuz summer won’t last forever.

Love Jen

5 from 1 vote

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Tuna, Peach and Bocconcini Caprese Salad

A fresh, summer salad with tuna for added protein, and jalapeño confetti for some kick! Perfect as a main or side, or even an appetizer.